LIVONIA, Mich. - The Madonna University women's soccer team kicked off the 2018 campaign with a dominating 4-2 win against Cardinal Stritch University on Saturday afternoon at the Madonna Athletics Complex. Player of the game Julia Henning paced the Crusaders' attack while Julia Stewart's strong performance in goal led the Blue and Gold to victory.
FINAL: Madonna (1-0) 4, Cardinal Stritch (0-1) 2
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The Crusaders set the offensive tone early with a goal in the 12th minute by Alexis Bozinovski off a beautiful shot from the right sideline about 35 yards out that carried up and over the keeper for a 1-0 lead.
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Just minutes later, Jamie Moceri found herself alone inside the box and was able to head a perfectly placed cross by Sierra Nissan past the keeper and into the net.
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The Wolves narrowed the gap with a goal off a corner kick in the 16th minute, but the Crusaders did not let down and closed the first half with a 2-1 lead.
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The second half was much of the same as the Crusaders outscored the Wolves 2-1 in the final 45 minutes of play. In the 47th minute, Henning blasted a free kick past the diving keeper before Olivia Kitz joined the scoring in the 60th minute off a great pass from Henning that deflected off a Cardinal Stritch defender and into the net.
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The Wolves found the net late in the 88th minute cutting the deficit to two, but it was not enough to mount a comeback.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
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Henning led the Crusaders with five shots, three on frame, while Nicolette Vultaggio, Bozinovski, Moceri, Megan Verant, Sierra Nissan, and Kirsten Schapman each added shots of their own.
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The Crusaders nearly doubled the Wolves shot output in the second half by a total of 15-9.
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Stewart collected three saves in her 90 minutes of play while allowing two goals
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